The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill last week that would invalidate out-of-state driver licenses issued exclusively to illegal aliens and make it a misdemeanor offense to operate motor vehicles in the state with such licenses.
The bill, HB0749/SB1086, passed the Tennessee House of Representatives by 68-21 and the Tennessee Senate by 26-6.
Sponsored by State Representative Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), the bill would deem any driver’s license issued by another state exclusively to illegal aliens – for example, those distinctly marked to differentiate them from licenses issued to U.S. citizens or lawful residents – invalid in the Volunteer State.
The bill would classify operating a motor vehicle in the state with an invalid license as a Class B misdemeanor.
In addition, the bill also mandates that the Tennessee Department of Safety publish a list of such invalid out-of-state license classes on its website by December 1, 2025, and update the list as necessary.
Majority Leader Johnson said licenses issued exclusively to illegal aliens from other states “creates confusion for law enforcement” and undermines the “consistency” Tennessee relies on to keep its roads safe.
“This bill doesn’t affect licenses issued to legal non-citizens. It targets a narrow category that undermines the rule of law,” Johnson explained.
“In Tennessee, we believe the rules of the road and the rules of our country ought to mean something,” Johnson added.
Upon Governor Bill Lee’s approval, the section of the bill invalidating such out-of-state licenses would take effect on January 1, 2026.
Nineteen states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico currently issue driver licenses to individuals who are in the U.S. illegally.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
This sounds good on paper but how is a police officer to validate if someone is an illegal alien? To me this is just another useless feel good bill.